Zombieland (R)

I give this movie a 5 out of 5. I have this movie in my own personal collection and I absolutely adore it, if you can adore a movie about the living dead chasing you around and trying to eat your face off, lol. Normally, when you think zombies, you think, slow, dumb, ambling creatures, but not in this film. The zombies seem intelligent and they are certainly not taking their time trying to take a bite out of you. Although this doesn't sound like a comedy, in actuality, it is. It has very funny and witty dialogue and, in my opinion, the perfect cast. Everyone gives an awesome performance and the balance between action and comedy is genius. I usually watch this movie around this time of the year and until I do, my October just doesn't feel complete. The movie starts off with us meeting a college student, "Columbus" (Jesse Eisenberg).  He is being chased around the parking lot of a gas station by zombies after stopping in to fill up his car. While being chased, he explains how the zombie apocalypse all began. He explains, it started with a mutated strain of the mad cow disease, that became "mad zombie disease", which took over the United States in only two months, turning almost every American into vicious, flesh-eating zombies. He continues to explain that he has always been a bit of a nerd and a loner but this fact, in itself, is what has contributed to him surviving as long as he has.  Along with that fact, he has a specific set of rules that he goes by since the outbreak began. He has a fairly extensive list but only a few are mentioned in the movie. Here are the few that I can remember...

1. "Cardio"
2. "Double Tap"
   
3. "Beware of bathrooms"
4. "Seatbelts"
5. "Travel light"
6. "Don't be a hero"; Columbus later changes the rule to "Be a hero" at the amusement park, after facing his greatest fear
7. "Limber up"
8. "When in doubt, know your way out"
9. "Check the back seat"
10. "Enjoy the little things"

The rules are a running gag throughout the film and are shown in several hilarious and clever ways. Columbus is taking a road trip from his dorm in Austin, Texas to his parents house in Columbus, Ohio to see if they are still alive. Since the Zombie Apocalypse happened, everyone discovered that it's easier not to become attached to someone if they go by their city of origin instead of using their actual names considering you never know when you might get bit and turned. Soon Columbus' car breaks down and he is forced to walk.  While on his trek, he encounters "Tallahassee" (Woody Harrelson), a top notch, zombie killing machine. Even though "Tallahassee" isn't much of a people person, he decides to be nice guy and help out Columbus since he is down on his luck. Throughout the entire movie, Tallahassee is desperately searching for somewhere he can find a Twinkie because he said it's the one thing that  would take him back to a time when the world was normal. Having that Twinkie, even if just for a few moments, would make him feel happy. So in search of his long lost Twinkie, they take a detour to a supermarket, but instead of finding Twinkies inside, they bump into "Wichita" (Emma Stone), and her younger sister "Little Rock" (Abigail Breslin). That's all I'm giving away for now or I will be giving too much away. If you have never watched this move, you should totally go pick it up. If your still not sure that you would be interested in watching it or not because you think it might be scary, I would say as an adult, you should be fine, but this is defiantly not one for the kiddos.
                                                                           -Candie Bradfield

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